Thursday, March 06, 2014

Johnny "Guitar" Watson

Excellent rhythm and blues album on the Charly label from 1985. Compilation by Cliff White from tracks Watson made in the 50's and 60's. Some blistering guitar which I'm sure could give Hendrix a run for his money back in the day.

“Watson was born in Houston, Texas.His father John Sr. was a
pianist, and taught his son the instrument. But young Watson was immediately
attracted to the sound of the guitar, in particular the electric guitar as
played by T-Bone Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown.

His grandfather, a preacher, was also musical. "My
grandfather used to sing while he'd play guitar in church, man," Watson
reflected many years later. When Johnny was 11, his grandfather offered to give
him a guitar if, and only if, the boy didn't play any of the "devil's
music". Watson agreed, but "that was the first thing I
did."[citation needed] A musical prodigy, Watson played with Texas
bluesmen Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland. His parents separated in 1950,
when he was 15. His mother moved to Los Angeles, and took Watson with her.

In his new city, Watson won several local talent shows. This
led to his employment, while still a teenager, with jump blues-style bands such
as Chuck Higgins's Mellotones and Amos Milburn. He worked as a vocalist,
pianist, and guitarist. He quickly made a name for himself in the
African-American juke joints of the West Coast, where he first recorded for
Federal Records in 1952. He was billed as Young John Watson until 1954. That
year, he saw the Joan Crawford film Johnny Guitar, and a new stage name was
born.

Watson affected a swaggering, yet humorous personality,
indulging a taste for flashy clothes and wild showmanship on stage. His
"attacking" style of playing, without a plectrum, resulted in him often
needing to change the strings on his guitar once or twice a show, because he
"stressified on them" so much, as he put it. Watson's ferocious
"Space Guitar" album of 1954 pioneered guitar feedback and reverb.
Watson would later influence a subsequent generation of guitarists. His song
"Gangster of Love" was first released on Keen Records in 1957. It did
not appear in the charts at the time, but was later re-recorded and became a
hit in 1978, becoming Watson's "most famous song".

He toured and recorded with his friend Larry Williams, as
well as Little Richard, Don and Dewey, The Olympics, Johnny Otis and, in the
mid-1970s with David Axelrod. In 1975 he is a guest performer on two tracks
(flambe vocals on the out-choruses of "San Ber'dino" and
"Andy") on the Frank Zappa album One Size Fits All.He also played
with Sam Cooke, Herb Alpert and George Duke. But as the popularity of blues
declined and the era of soul music dawned in the 1960s, Watson transformed
himself from southern blues singer with pompadour into urban soul singer in a
pimp hat. His new style was emphatic - the gold teeth, broad-brimmed hats,
flashy suits, fashionable outsized sunglasses and ostentatious jewelry made him
one of the most colorful figures in the West Coast funk scene.”